This invention relates to a method of and a machine for printing pile fabrics with a pile containing thermoplastic fibres by thermoprinting. More particularly, the invention relates to a method of and a machine for thermoprinting in conjunction with a synchronously performed relief-forming and/or surface forming patterning of pile fabrics which are preferably intended for imitation animal skins and which have a pile containing or consisting entirely of thermoplastic fibres.
According to the invention, the textile pile fabrics, preferably in web form, are printed in accordance with the known principles of thermoprinting, although the invention is concerned with the particular application of thermoprinting to highly sensitive pile fabrics.
In the context of the invention, thermoprinting is a printing process in which dyes are transferred from a print consisting, for example, of paper to the article to be dyed by sublimation of the dyes under dry heat.
An object of the invention is to allow the printing of pressure-sensitive pile fabrics by the thermoprinting process and at the same time obtain a relief-formed and/or surface-formed pattern on the surface of the pile fabric.